Dead Sea Drying Up

Guardian Unlimited - AP ^ | November 4, 2003 | PETER ENAV

[repentant_pundit]

Why connect water-feeding tubes to it, just to preserve a lifeless puddle of salt water ? And if it's so useless for sustaining life, why do Israel and Jordan use it to irrigate crops ??

[TheCrusader]

"The Dead Sea is dying, and only a major engineering effort can save it,"

The Dead Sea is dying, LOL.

[skr]

They irrigate from the Dead Sea's source, the Jordan River, not the Dead Sea. Which is dead, so it cannot die. It would seem more logical to worry about the Jordan.

[babble-on]

Jordan River is deep and wide.

[Consort]

It's just living up to its name.

[bjcintennessee]

The Dead Sea is dying

Aaargh -- you stole my thoughts!

Guess the environmentalists will attribute this to global warming.

[wideminded]

And if it's so useless for sustaining life, why do Israel and Jordan use it to irrigate crops ??

The article said that Israel and Jordan use the Jordan River to irrigate crops.

I wonder what happened to the idea of creating a channel in Egypt to bring water to the Qattara Depression (2nd lowest point on earth). This might be a way of moderating the climate in the Egyptian desert.

[SwinneySwitch]

Hallelujah.
Milk and honey on the other side.
Hallelujah.

The River Jordan is chilly and cold.
Hallelujah.
Chills the body but not the soul.
Hallelujah.

[Kay Soze]

More land available for the Israelies!

[wideminded]

I was wrong. The Qattara Depression is the 5th deepest natural surface depression.

link

[patton]

Personnaly, I think it is the cause of global warming.

Think about it - no body of water, no rain to the east.

So explains the desert.

Put the water back, the rain returns - and the Pyramids are again in a tropical forest.

What would it take to do this?

A twenty-eight mile pipe.

[denydenydeny]

The Dead Sea gets its name from its heavy salt content, because no aquatic creatures can live in it.

The water pouring into the Dead Sea from the south would counter the deterioration, but environmentalists warn that water from the Red Sea is salty, while the Jordan River supplies fresh water, and this could have adverse consequences.

Someone help me out here. What adverse consequences could come from pouring salt water into a body of water too salty to support life?

[cookcounty]

I'm not an engineer, but why couldn't this be siphoned? Wouldn't the 1.200 foot drop supply the power to pull water out of Aqaba?

[cookcounty]

Believe me, nobody is taking waer out of the Dead Sea to irrigate crops.

[lafroste]

Someone help me out here. What adverse consequences could come from pouring salt water into a body of water too salty to support life?

I had the same thought. Perhaps the introduction of salt water feed where the supply had been fresh water would cause the salinity of the dead sea to increase dramatically, possibly even making a saturated solution so that the bottom of the dead sea would be salt sludge. Of course, if it has no outflow and loses water 100% by evaporation, then the salt sludge is inevitable anyway.

I like the idea of using its elevation to refill it via pipeline, but it obviously requires a far more detailed engineering study before deciding that the project is viable or makes sense.

[winker]

In Revellation it says Living Water will flow from Jerusalem through the channel created when Jehovah Gira's feet split the Mount Of Olivies upon His Return! This is the permanent fix needed!

[SJackson]

There's a major, non scienticfic reason that canal won't work which no one on the thread thought of.

The palestinians don't want it. That kills it.

And don't ask why, it's none of anyones business

Jordan Accepts Palestinian Reservations Over the Dead Sea-Red Sea Canal
www.petra.gov.jo/nepras/2004/Jun/02/19741600.htm

Dead Sea Shore, June 2 (Petra-Jorrdanain Press Agency)--Deputy president of the Water Authority in the Palestinian National Authority, Fadil Kaoush told Jordan News Agency, Petra, that Jordan accepted the Palestinian reservations over the implementation of the Dead Sea-Red Sea Canal project.

These reservations are related to the legitimate rights of Palestinians in water, which should not be ignored when implementation the project.

Kaoush noted that Israel, which does not recognize the rights of Palestinians in the Dead Sea, say that the Palestinians could only benefit from water that would be desalinated once the project is implemented.

He revealed that a specialized technical committee will hold meetings in Israel next week with the participation of Jordan, Palestine and Israel.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

[AFreeBird]

Kaoush noted that Israel, which does not recognize the rights of Palestinians in the Dead Sea, say that the Palestinians could only benefit from water that would be desalinated once the project is implemented.

Huh? Pump, divert, channel, fresh water into the Dead Sea so you can go through the hassel and expense of de-salinating it? For the Pali's?

Defies logic doesn't it.